Method and system and file format of generating content by reference

ABSTRACT

A method of generating content defined by a file of a prescribed format. A portion of a first work of content is automatically identified responsive to a user selection thereof. The first work of content may be audio, video, and still images. A reference to the portion of the first work of content is generated responsive to the identifying. Instructions associated with the portion of the first work of content operable for use by a playback device to render the content are generated. The reference and the instructions are incorporated in a digital file of a prescribed format operable for use by the playback device during rendition of the content. The file may be stored in a memory component. The playback device is operable to use the reference to access the portion of the first work of content from a source other than the file during rendition of the file.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of electronics.More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate tocontent generation including audio content.

BACKGROUND

In general, distribution of content created by others is not allowedunless a right or a license to use the content has been obtained. Forexample, a first musician that intends to incorporate a musical contentcreated by a second musician into the work created by the firstmusician, for distribution thereof, is required to obtain the consent ofthe second musician. It is appreciated that the need to obtain a licensefrom the artist that creates the content is not limited to audiocontent. For example, a license to use copyrighted content may berequired for literally work, visual art, video, stilled images, etc.

Unfortunately, negotiating a contract between the right holder andothers is not always possible and easy. For example, the right holdermay be unwilling to license the content or it may be very expensive toobtain a license to use the copyrighted material. Also, rightsnegotiations can be time consuming and involve legal counsel. Moreover,one may need to obtain a license to use content from a third party agentand not directly from the artist that created the art work, therebyserving as an additional obstacle in obtaining a license to use thecreated art work. Accordingly, some artists are left with no option butto abandon the creation of their artistic work that incorporates work ofothers, thereby hindering art creation and artistic talent.

Moreover, modern digital recording and computer implemented mixing andplayback applications have provided artists with increased flexibilityin providing mixed works that draw from existing works of others. Itwould be advantageous to increase the freedom by which such artists canoperate to produce and distribute their works.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, a need has arisen to enable artists to use and distributeartistic work made by others without a need to obtain a license, therebypromoting art and the creation of artistic work. Moreover, a need hasarisen to promote art and the creation of artistic work by creating anartwork format that uses artistic works by others without a need toincorporate their content. It will become apparent to those skilled inthe art in view of the detailed description of the present inventionthat the embodiments of the present invention remedy the above mentionedneeds and provide the above referenced advantages.

According to one embodiment, a portion of content to be used in an artwork is identified. A reference to the identified portion is generated.The reference may be the artist's name, a finger printing, a tracknumber, a name of a song, or anything that can be used to identify apiece of art work uniquely. It is appreciated that in one embodiment,different versions of the same content are distinguished from oneanother using the reference. The entire content or merely a portion ortrack thereof may be specified.

In one embodiment, instructions associated with the portion of thecontent are generated based on the user input. Instructions may becommands associated with the manner of which the portion of the contentis to be used during rendition. For example, instructions may indicateto speed up or slowdown a selected portion of the content duringplayback, overlap the content with other content, identify the track toplay, reverse the order, provide echo, provide re-verb, performcompression/expansion, etc. Volume of the content can also be specified.

In one embodiment, the generated commands and the reference areincorporated in a digital file of a prescribed format. The file may bestored in a memory component for later use. It is appreciated that thefile does not incorporate the portion of the content that the user hasno right to distribute but rather includes a reference to it. As such,the playback device may access the portion of the content identified bythe references, during rendition of the file, from a source other thanthe file, e.g., from a compact disc (CD), the Internet, etc. Therefore,artists may use and distribute content created by others without a needto obtain a license because the content created by others is notincorporated into the file but rather merely references thereto areused.

More particularly, a method of generating content is disclosed. Themethod includes automatically identifying a portion of a first work ofcontent in response to a user selection thereof. The first work ofcontent may be selected from a group consisting of audio, video, andstill images. According to one embodiment, a reference to the portion ofthe first work of content is generated in response to the identifying.Instructions associated with the portion of the first work of contentare generated. The instructions are operable for use during rendering bya playback device. The reference and the instructions are incorporatedin a digital file of a prescribed format, wherein said file is operablefor use by said playback device to render the content. It is appreciatedthat the file may be stored in a memory component.

It is appreciated that a portion of a second work of content may bereceived. According to one embodiment instructions associated with theportion of the second work of content are generated. The instructionsare operable for use during rendering by the playback device. Theportion of the second work of content and the instructions associatedwith the portion of the second work of content are incorporated in thefile.

It is appreciated that in one embodiment, a portion of a third work ofcontent is automatically identified in response to a user selectionthereof. A reference to the portion of the third work of content isgenerated in response to the identifying the portion of the third workof content. Instructions associated with the portion of the third workof content are generated. The instructions are operable for use duringrendering by the playback device. The reference to the portion of thethird work of content and the instructions associated with the portionof the third work of content are incorporated in the file.

The playback device is operable to use the reference to access theportion of the first work of content from a source other than the fileduring rendition of the digital file. As such, the playback device isoperable to render the portion of the first work of content based oneffects specified by the instructions, e.g., to create audio playbackeffects and/or control volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example,and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanyingdrawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elementsand in which:

FIG. 1 shows a system for generating content in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show exemplary file formats generated in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show exemplary playback of content generated inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary computer controlled flow diagram in accordancewith a process of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a general purpose computer system that may serve as aplatform for embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary playback device rendering a generatedsource file in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction withthese embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended tolimit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the inventionis intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, whichmay be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detaileddescription of the present invention, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. However, it will be evident to one of ordinary skill in theart that the present invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarilyobscure aspects of the invention.

Notation and Nomenclature

Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented interms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolicrepresentations of operations on data bits that can be performed ontelevision set memory. These descriptions and representations are themeans used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. A procedure,television set executed step, logic block, process, etc., is here, andgenerally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps orinstructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiringphysical manipulations of physical quantities.

Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form ofelectrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. Ithas proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage,to refer to these signals as bits, packets, messages, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present invention,discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “creating” or“transferring” or “executing” or “determining” or “identifying” or“instructing” or “issuing” or “altering” or “clearing” or “accessing” or“receiving” or “detecting” or “obtaining” or “selecting” or“calculating” or “measuring” or “querying” or “receiving” or “sending”or “providing” or “storing” or “displaying” or “rendering” or“generating” or “incorporating” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a television set, or similar electronic computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the television set's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the television set memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

A Method and System and File Format of Generating Content by Reference

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system 100 for generating content inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown. Thesystem 100 includes a content identifier 110, an instruction generator120, a content editing effect 115 component, a content recorder 130, anda memory component 150. The system 100 may optionally include a playbackdevice 140, However, it is appreciated that the playback device 140 maybe separate from system 100.

It is appreciated that the generated content may be audio, video, stillimages, literally work, etc. The exemplary embodiments described hereinare related to musical work but are not limited thereto. For example,the exemplary embodiments described herein are equally applicable toliterally work, visual work, video, still images, etc.

In this exemplary embodiment, the user or artist may wish to create anew musical work from existing musical works. For example, the user maywish to create a music remix work based on user created music andfurther based on music created by someone other than the user. The musiccreated by someone other than the user may be accessed by the user bypurchasing a compact disc (CD) storing that music. In this exemplaryembodiment, content 2 corresponds to a user created musical work whilecontent 1 corresponds to a musical work created by someone other thanthe user. in this example, the user does not have the rigid todistribute content 1 without the consent of the creator of content 1. Onthe other hand, the user does have the right to distribute content 2which is created by the user.

User selected portions of content 1 are received by the contentidentifier 110. The content identifier 110 identifies one or moreselected portions of content 1. According to one embodiment, theselected portions of content 1 may be uniquely identified using theartist name, a track number, a song name, a finger printing, etc. Fingerprinting refers to uniquely identifying content such that differentversions of the same content or portions thereof are distinguished fromone another. It is appreciated that the content identifier 110 generatesone or more references to the identified portions of content 1 andoutputs the references to the content recorder 130.

User selected portions of content 1 and 2 are received by the contentediting effect 115 component. The content editing effect 115 componentmay be used to mix the selected portions of content 1 and 2 in a userdefined manner. It appreciated that the content editing effect 115component may be multi-trad mixing software operable to mix the selectedportions of content 1 and content 2. The content editing effect 115component may be used to edit and customize the audio effect of theselected portions of content 1 and 2 in the generated remix content. Forexample, the user may customize the speed of various portions of content1 and 2, reverse the play order, provide echo, provide re-verb, performcompress/expand, overlap contents, etc. The volume of the content canalso be specified. Thus, the music remix based on content 1 and 2 andfurther based on prescribed audio effects is created along with volumecontrol.

The instruction generator 120 receives the customized portions ofcontent 1 and content 2. In other words, the music remix based on theselected portions of content 1 and 2 and further based on audio effectare received by the instruction generator 120. The instruction generator120 generates one or more instructions associated with the music remixreceived from the content editing effect 115. For example, a firstgenerated instruction may be associated with a first portion of content2 having a first audio effect while a second generated instruction maybe associated with a first portion of content 1 having a second audioeffect. The generated instructions may be used by the playback device140 to render the selected portions of content 1 and 2 based on theaudio effect specified by the user.

The content recorder 130 receives the generated instructions, thereferences to the selected portions of content 1, and the selectedportions of content 2. It is appreciated that the content recorder 130receives the references to the identified portions of content 1 insteadof receiving the actual content. The references to the identifiedportions of content 1 are received instead of the actual content becausethe user does not have the right to distribute the content of theselected portions of content 1. On the other hand, the content recorder130 may receive the selected portions of content 2 instead of referencesto the selected portions of content 2 because the user does have theright to distribute the selected portions of content 2. The contentrecorder 130 incorporates the received input into an output digital fileof a prescribed format that may be stored in the memory component 150for later use. It is appreciated that the output file may be transmittedto the playback device 140 for rendition.

According to one embodiment, the output file comprises a plurality ofplayback effects and volume instructions, selected portions of content2, and references to selected portions of content 1. Thus, the actualcontent associated with the selected portions of content 1 is notincorporated in the output digital file, thereby circumventing the needto obtain a license to distribute the generated music remix.

It is appreciated that the references to the selected portions ofcontent 1 can be used to obtain the actual content of the selectedportions of content 1 for rendering by the playback device 140. Forexample, the references may be used to locate the selected portions ofcontent 1 from available resources, e.g., from a CD, BLU Ray disc, MP3,the Internet, etc.

It is appreciated that in one embodiment of the present invention thecreated output file may contain references to the selected portions ofcontent 2 instead of the actual content associated therewith, therebyobviating the need to obtain a distribution license to content 2. It isfurther appreciated that using references to the selected portions ofcontent 2 may reduce the amount of space required to store the createdoutput file in comparison to incorporating the actual content associatedwith the selected portions of content 2 in the file.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, exemplary contents generated inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention are shown. FIG. 2Ashows an exemplary output file in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. The file may comprise instructions generated by theinstruction generator 120 unit. For example, the instructions mayinclude instructions associated with the first portion of content 2,instructions associated with the selected portions of content 1, andinstructions associated with the second portion of content 2. It isappreciated that the file may also include various portions of content 2and references to various portions of content 1. The references tocontent 1 may be used to locate the selected portions of content 1 fromavailable resources, e.g., a CD, BLU Ray disc, MP3, Internet, etc. It isappreciated that the instructions may be used by a playback device torender the selected portions of the content in the user specifiedfashion based on the audio effect.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, an exemplary digital output file in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention is shown. The digital filemay comprise instructions generated by the instruction generator 120unit similar to that of FIG. 2A. The file format includes references tocontent 1 and further includes references to the first and the secondportions of content 2 instead of incorporating the actual contentassociated with content 2. Incorporating references to content 2 insteadof incorporating the actual content of content 2 may be advantageous inreducing storage space.

It is appreciated that any combination of references and incorporationof actual content may be used, for the content which the user has theright to distribute. It is further appreciated that the number ofportions and instructions associated with contents 1 and 2 providedherein are exemplary and not intended to limit the scope of the presentinvention.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, exemplary playback of contentgenerated in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention areshown. More particularly referring to FIG. 3A, playback of an outputfile, as presented by FIG. 2A, is shown. The playback device 140 may usethe instructions for the first portion of content 2 in order to renderthe first portion of content 2. Subsequent to rendering the firstportion of content 2, the playback device renders content 1 based on theinstructions for content 1. The playback device 140 may use theinstructions for the second portion of content 2 in order to render thesecond portion of content 2.

It is appreciated that content 1 is not incorporated as part of theoutput file. Therefore, the playback device 140 may use the referencesto content 1 in order to identify the portions of content 1 to berendered. The references to content 1 may be used to locate the content,e.g., from a storage memory unit 310. It is appreciated that the storagememory unit 310 may be a server, a CD, a BLU Ray disc, etc., that storesthe selected portions of content 1. Content 1 may be fetched from thestorage memory unit 310 using various means, e.g., wirelesscommunication, Internet, etc.

Accordingly, the created content comprising the selected portions ofcontent 1 and 2 are rendered by the playback device 140 according to theuser preference as specified by the audio effect. It is appreciated thatthe created content is rendered without obtaining consent from thecreator of content 1 because references to the content is incorporatedtherein instead of the actual content.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, playback of an output file, as presented byFIG. 2B, is shown. The playback device 140 may use the instructions forthe first portion of content 2 in order to render the first portion ofcontent 2. The first portion of content 2 is not incorporated within theoutput file. Thus, references to the first portion of content 2 may beused to fetch the actual content from a storage medium 320 storing thefirst portion of content 2. It is appreciated that the storage memoryunit 320 may be a server, a CD, a BLU Ray disc, etc., that stores thefirst portion of content 2. The first portion of content 2 may befetched from the storage memory unit 320 using various means, e.g.,wireless communication, Internet, etc.

Subsequent to rendering the first portion of content 2, the playbackdevice renders content 1 based on the instructions for content 1. It isappreciated that content 1 is not incorporated as part of the outputfile. Therefore, the playback device 140 may use the references tocontent 1 in order to identify the portions of content 1 to be rendered.The references to content 1 may be used to locate the content, e.g.,from the storage memory unit 310. It is appreciated that the storagememory unit 310 may be a server, a CD, a BLU Ray disc, etc., that storescontent 1. Content 1 may be fetched from the storage memory unit 310using various means, e.g., wireless communication, Internet, etc.

The playback device 140 may use the instructions for the second portionof content 2 in order to render the second portion of content 2. It isappreciated that the second portion of content 2 is not incorporatedwithin the output file. Thus, references to the second portion ofcontent 2 may be used to fetch the actual content from a storage medium330 storing the second portion of content 2. It is appreciated that thestorage memory unit 330 may be a server, a CD, a BLU Ray disc, etc.,that stores the second portion of content 2. The second portion ofcontent 2 may be fetched from the storage memory unit 330 using variousmeans, e.g., wireless communication, Internet, etc.

Accordingly, the created content comprising the selected portions ofcontent 1 and 2 are rendered by the playback device 140 according to theuser preference and the specified audio effect. It is appreciated thatthe created content is rendered without requiring the user to obtainconsent from the creator of content 1 because references to the contentis incorporated therein instead of the actual content. Moreover, it isappreciated that references to various portions of content 2 is used,thereby reducing the amount space needed.

It is further appreciated that the prescribed file format may be used tocontrol various aspects of recordings, e.g., vocals, drums, keyboard,guitar, etc., and volume thereof. As such, a user is given control overthe mix of musical work as the player blends various recordingscontained in the file. For example, a user may adjust the mix of thedifferent parts of the recording instead of using the mix specified inthe instructions. This flexibility enables a user to play the createdfile as the sound board mixer.

Moreover, it is appreciated that the used format enables a user togenerate many different mixes and/or remixes of a musical work from asame source material. As such, the source material may be included inthe generated content only once while many different mixes and/orremixes is generated.

In one embodiment, one or more references to content may be marked asunnecessary. Accordingly, the generated content may be rendered withoutthe referenced content marked as unnecessary if the playback device doesnot have a copy of the reference material, marked as unnecessary.Moreover, it is appreciated that the unnecessary referenced content maybe replaced with an alternative content if the unnecessary referencedmaterial is not accessible by the playback device.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary computer controlled flow 400diagram in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention isshown. At step 410, a portion of a first content is automaticallyidentified. It is appreciated that the identification of the portion ofthe first content may be in response to a user selection of the portionof the first content.

In this exemplary embodiment the user does not have the right todistribute the selected portion of the first content. Accordingly, atstep 420, references to the selected portion of the first content aregenerated. It is appreciated that the references uniquely identify theselected portion of the first content by using the artist name, a tracknumber, a song name, a finger printing, etc.

At step 430, playback effects and volume instructions associated withthe selected portion of the first content are generated. For example,the instructions may be used by the playback device 140 to rendercontent based on the audio effect specified by the user, e.g., customizethe speed of various portions of contents, reverse the order, provideecho, provide re-verb, perform compress/expand, overlap contents, etc.It is appreciated that the instructions can contain information abouttiming, both the offset into the piece of content being referred to andalso the offset into the playback where the instruction indicates for itto be used.

At step 440, a portion of a second content is received. The portion ofthe second content may be received in response to a user selection ofthe portion of the second content. In this exemplary embodiment, theuser has the right to distribute the portion of the second content.Accordingly, there is no need to generate references to the portion ofthe second content since the actual content can be used. However, in oneembodiment, references to the portion of the second content may be usedin order to reduce the amount of storage space.

At step 450, instructions associated with the portion of the secondcontent are generated. The generated instructions associated with theportion of the second content may be used by the playback device 140 torender the portion of the second content based on the audio effectspecified by the user, e.g., customize the speed of various portions ofcontents, reverse the order, echo, re-verb, compress/expand, overlapcontents, etc.

At step 460, a portion of a third content is automatically identified.It is appreciated that the identification of portion of the thirdcontent may be in response to a user selection of the portion of thethird content.

In this exemplary embodiment, the user does not have the right todistribute the selected portion of the third content, in this exemplaryembodiment. Accordingly, at step 470, references to the selected portionof the third content are generated. It is appreciated that thereferences uniquely identify the selected portion of the third contentby using the artist name, a track number, a song name, finger printing,etc. It is further appreciated that the portion of the third content maybe a second portion of the first content or it may be from a differentcontent entirely.

At step 480, instructions associated with the selected portion of thethird content are generated. For example, the instructions may be usedby the playback device 140 to render content based on the audio effectspecified by the user.

At step 490, a digital file of a prescribed format comprisinginstructions, and references is created. It is appreciated that in oneembodiment the file may include actual content of the selected portionsof the content, which the user has the right to distribute. The file maybe used by the playback device 140 to render content that includes theselected portions of the first, the second, and the third content basedon the generated instructions. The references to portions of firstcontent and the third content may be used to access the identifiedportions from a source other than the file itself. At step 495, the filemay be stored.

Accordingly, the digital file may be distributed by the user. The fileenables the rendition of content that does not belong to the userwithout incorporation of the content therein. The need to obtain consentis eliminated because no portion of the content, which the user has noright to distribute, is being incorporated in the file.

It is appreciated that the prescribed file format should be licensed foruse in audio creation software and free to use in audio playbacksoftware. This is targeted to lead to much wider use of the format asthe masses of amateur programmers would then be able to legally use theformat for playback in their software.

FIG. 5 illustrates a general purpose computer system that may serve as aplatform for embodiments of the present invention for file creationand/or file playback. Computer system 500 may implement the process forgenerating content as described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1through 4. The computer system 500 may include a bus 502 or othercommunication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor504 coupled with bus 502 for processing information.

Computer system 500 also includes a main memory 506, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 502for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor504. Main memory 506 also may be used for storing temporary variables orother intermediate information during execution of instructions to beexecuted by processor 504. Computer system 500 further includes a readonly memory (ROM) 508 or other static storage device coupled to bus 502for storing static information and instructions for processor 504. Anon-volatile storage device 510, such as a magnetic disk or opticaldisk, is provided and coupled to bus 502 for storing information andinstructions and may store the persistent internal queue. According toone embodiment, the instructions for implementing the virtual device maybe stored on any one of the memory components (e.g., RAM, ROM,non-volatile storage device and etc.). Computer system 500 may becoupled via bus 502 to an optional display 512, such as a cathode raytube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to processor 504 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks,such as storage device 510. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, suchas main memory 506. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 502.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio wave and infrared datacommunications.

Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM,a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave asdescribed hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer canread.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exemplary playback device rendering agenerated source file in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention is shown. A source file 610 is the content generated and isformatted such that is can be rendered on playback device 620.

The source file 610 may include instructions 612, references to content614, and actual content 616. The instructions 612 are commands on themanner of which to combine content and to apply effects and filters, asspecified by the creator of the source file 610. The instructions 612may be generated using the instruction generator 120, as describedabove. The references to content 614 are generated by a contentidentifier 110, as presented above. The actual content 616 is datacorresponding to the selected portion of a content to be incorporatedwithin the source file, e.g., first portion of content 2 described withrespect to FIG. 2A.

The playback device 620 receives the source file 610 for rendering. Theplayback device 620 includes a content fetcher 622, content interface624, a user interface 626, cache 628, a rendering engine 632, a playbackcontroller 634 and a content aggregator 636. The content fetcher 622 isoperable to access and obtain the content identified by the referencesto content 614. It is appreciated that the content fetcher 622 may usethe interface 624 to access content identified by the references tocontent 614. The interface 624 may include local network, Internet,optical drive, hard drive, removable media, portable music player, etc.According to one embodiment, the user interface 626 is operable toprovide access to the referenced content. For example, in oneembodiment, the interface 626 can be used to interface with the userwhen the referenced material cannot automatically be found. Thisinterface can include listing the metadata about that referencedmaterial, which can include things such as artist, song name, and albumname. The user seeing this can insert an optical disc with thereferenced material, or otherwise provide the referenced material whenit was not available initially.

According to one embodiment, cache 628 stored locations of contentand/or copied thereof. Thus, user interaction may not be eliminated inorder to access the referenced content if the same file is beingrendered more than once. The content aggregator 636 is operable tocombine the referenced content and to further apply the indicatedeffects and filters, as specified by the instructions. The renderingengine 632 may render, e.g., audio output, video output, etc. thecontent as specified by the source file 610. The playback controller 634may provide progress report of the content being rendered, e.g., timeelapsed. Moreover, the playback controller 634 may provide a means tocontrol the rendition of the source file 610, e.g., play/pause, fastforward, rewind, etc. It is appreciated that the controller 634 can beused to control the mix for embodiments of the file that havecontrollable mixes and it can further be used to select which mix toplay for embodiments of the file that contain instructions for multiplemixes.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have beendescribed with reference to numerous specific details that may vary fromimplementation to implementation. Thus, the sole and exclusive indicatorof what is, and is intended by the applicants to be, the invention isthe set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific formin which such claims issue, including any subsequent correction. Hence,no limitation, element, property, feature, advantage or attribute thatis not expressly recited in a claim should limit the scope of such claimin any way. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A computer-useable medium that is not a carrier waveand that includes computer-readable program code stored thereon forcausing a computer system to execute a method of generating content,said method comprising: responsive to a determination that a portion ofa first work of content requires permission to distribute the portion ofthe first work and that the permission has not been obtained, generatinga reference to said portion of said first work of content, the referencerepresenting the portion of the first work but not being the portion ofthe first work; generating instructions associated with said portion ofsaid first work of content operable for use during rendering by aplayback device; and incorporating said reference and said instructionsin a digital file, wherein said file is operable for use by saidplayback device to render said content, wherein said method furthercomprises: receiving a portion of a second work of content; generatinginstructions associated with said portion of said second work of contentoperable for use during rendering by said playback device; andincorporating said portion of said second work of content and saidinstructions associated with said portion of said second work of contentin said file.
 9. The computer-useable medium as described by claim 8,wherein said method further comprises: storing said file in a memorycomponent.
 10. (canceled)
 11. The computer-useable medium as describedby claim 8, wherein said method further comprises: automaticallyidentifying a portion of a third work of content in response to a userselection thereof; in response to said identifying said portion of saidthird work of content, generating a reference to said portion of saidthird work of content; generating instructions associated with saidportion of said third work of content operable for use during renderingby said playback device; and incorporating said reference to saidportion of said third work of content and said instructions associatedwith said portion of said third work of content in said file.
 12. Thecomputer-useable medium as described by claim 8, wherein said first workof content is selected from a group consisting of audio, video, andstill images.
 13. The computer-useable medium as described by claim 8,wherein said playback device is operable to use said reference to accesssaid portion of said first work of content from a source other than saidfile during rendition of said file.
 14. The computer-useable medium asdescribed by claim 13, wherein said playback device is operable torender said portion of said first work of content based on effectsspecified by said instructions.
 15. A system of generating contentcomprising: a content identifier operable to identify a portion of afirst work of content in response to a user selection thereof, whereinsaid content identifier is operable to generate a reference to saidportion of said first work of content; an instruction generator operableto generate instructions associated with playback of said portion ofsaid first work of content operable for use during rendering by aplayback device; and a content recorder operable to incorporate saidreference and said instructions in a digital file, wherein said file isoperable for use by said playback device during rendition of saidcontent, wherein at least a first part of the portion of the first workof content is indicated in the file as being unnecessary such that theportion of the first work of content is rendered without rendering thefirst part responsive to a determination that the playback device doesnot have a copy of the first part.
 16. The system as described by claim15, wherein said content recorder is further operable to receive aportion of a second work of content, and wherein said content recorderis further operable to incorporate said portion of said second work ofcontent and instructions associated therewith in said file.
 17. Thesystem as described by claim 15 further comprising: a memory componentoperable to store said file.
 18. The system as described by claim 15,wherein said first work of content is selected from a group consistingof audio, video, and still images.
 19. The system as described by claim15, wherein said playback device is operable to use said reference toaccess said portion of said first work of content from a source otherthan said file during rendition of said file.
 20. The system asdescribed by claim 19, wherein said playback device is operable torender said portion of said first work of content based on playbackeffects specified in said instructions.